Tent



May 11, 1965 G. J. BILLER, JR

TENT

Filed Sept. 4, 1962 United States Patent 3,182,672 TENT George J. Biller, In, Union, Mo., assignor to Hawthorn Company, a Division of Kellwood Company, Chicago, Iih, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 4, 1962, Ser. No. 221,155 7 Claims. (Cl. 135-5) My invention relates to umbrella tents in general, and has to do more particularly with an improved construction of a door or awning in combination with such a tent.

It has been common practice for a long time to provide in tents of various types, including wall tents and umbrella tents, an opening for ingress and egress of occupants of the tent, with a flap which in one position will serve as a door covering said opening and, when raised, serving as an awning over said opening. Means, of course, must be provided for supporting the flap in such raised position, and it has been customary to utilize for this purpose a pole at each free corner of the flap, such poles resting on the ground and having at their upper extremities pins extending through grommets in the corners of the flap.- Such poles must be secured by guy ropes and stakes. While such construction has for many years been accepted as standard equipment, it has left much to be desired in the way of convenience and efficiency.

In the standard type of awning support referred to above the guy ropes used for steadying the poles may extent as far as 20 feet in front of the tent, in order to provide adequate st-ability to the awning support. Such an arr-angementof poles, ropes and stakes is inconvenient and hazardous, inasmuch as it provides a serious obstruction detracting from free accessibility of the entrance, seriously limiting ingress and egress. The arrangement is hazardous and dangerous, especially when one wishes to enter or leave the tent hurriedly, and might result in serious bodily injury if one should overlook and trip over one of the guy ropes or stakes. This construction is also a hazard to children playing about the entrance to the tent. (Furthermore, with this arrangement considerable labor is involved in setting up or striking the tent.

A major object of my invention is to provide an awning support which will completely eliminate the poles and guy ropes heretofore employed, providing a substantially free ground space in front of the tent opening.

Another object is to provide an awning support of the type referred to which will be simple in construct-ion and Will have a high degree of flexibility so as to be available for tents of different sizes, thus reducing production cost.

Various other objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Referring now to the drawings forming a part of this specification and illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tent embodying my in 'vention;

tion with the canopy, and

FIG. is .a fragmentary detail elevation showing a bottom portion of my improved awning support and associated tent frame.

The tent seen in the drawings may be classified as an umbrella tent in that the fabric tent body 10 is supported by a frame disposed outside the body rather than inside, as in the case of a wall tent. In this case the frame 15 is preferably tubular and comprises uprights or pole-s 17 disposed at the corners of the tent, ridge poles 20 being joined to and extending obliquely upwardly from corner poles 17 and crossing each other at the peak 22. It will be understood that the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 is only one possible tent structure of many to which my invention might be applied.

The fabric body 10 is generally rectangular in the usual case, having four side walls. The front wall 25 has a vertically elongated opening 28 therein for providing ingress to and egress from the tent. Wall portion 25 will have a flap 30 secured as by stitching to or adjacent cave seam 32. In one position (not shown) flap 30 may hang downwardly overlying opening 28 to provide a door, and may be secured in the usual manner to wall 25, as by tie strings, snaps, etc., to bar the entry of wind and rain. However, flap 30 is shown only in its elevated position, inasmuch as my invention pertains to the support of the flap in this position.

As seen best in. FIG. 1, I provide an awning supporting frame 46, preferably formed of tubular metal and also preferably in several parts, for purposes of adjustability, added convenience in packing, etc.

Attached to each of the front corner posts 17, 17 as seen in detail on an enlarged scale in FIG. 5, is a bifurcated bracket 35 which may conveniently be formed of a single strap of metal or the like bent to form a sleeve portion slideably adjustable on pole 17 and secured as by means of a wing nut and screw 37 extending through perforations in laterally extending ears forming an integral part of bracket 35.

Pivotally carried on said screw 37 is an eye bolt 40 threaded into a plug seated in a sleeve 42 which serves as a mounting for a tubular adjusting member 44. Telescopically connected to tubular members 44 on each side of the tent is a tubular awning frame 46 comprising an oblique portion 47 which forms an obtuse angle at 48 with a more-or-less horizontally disposed portion 50.

To provide longitudinal adjustability, the tubular member 44 is so connected, as by screw threads 49, to socket 42 and frame portion 47 that, by turning member 44, the length of the diagonal strut formed by elements 42, 44 and 47 may be adjusted and locked in adjusted position. If threading is used for this purpose, obviously, right and left hand threads, respectively, will be employed at opposite ends of member 44.

The horizontal portion of frame 46 is generally U- shaped, so as to extend around the free end of flap 30, said flap being secured to said frame by any suitable means. In the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings I provide at each corner of flap 30 a D-ring 55 or the like, which may be secured to the flap as by means of a fabric loop 56 or the like. Each D-ring 55 is detachably connected to a hook member 58 extending through a perforation in frame 46 and secured as by knurled nuts 60 or the like engaging a threaded end of hook member 58.

To facilitate flat packing, I may provide an elbow 52 at each corner of frame 46, these elbow-s telescopically seating side frame portion 50 and front frame portion 51.

Although not so required for structural purposes, in order to provide a neat and attractive frame for flap 30 when employed as an awning, the frame may extend substantially entirely around the free end of said flap, as seen in FIG. 1, with the front sections of the frame substantially abutting as at 62.

Cooperating with the awning frame and the structural support for the tent, so as to provide additional rigidity to the latter, is a pair of guy ropes 65, 65. Said guy ropes are attached, at the lower end thereof, to corner poles 17 frame members, as by means of threads, etc.

as by means of a loop or grommet 68 through which extends a reduced peg portion 69 at the lower extremity of each pole 17. Each of the ropes 65 at the top is looped through a book 72 extending through a perforation in one of the awning frame members 50 (FIG. 4), said hooks being secured to the frame members as by being threaded to a knurled nut 73 or the like. The guy ropesdS are adjustable in length, as by means of an expedient which has long been common in the tentage art, i.e., a slide clamp 75 having a pair of holes therein, the knotted free end of the rope extending through one perforation of said clamp while the main course of the rope extends through the other perforation. Tightening or loosening of the rope by this means is well known in the art.

Erection or installation of the awning may conveniently be accomplished as follows: After the main body of the tent has been erected, as seen in FIG. 1, one of the front corner poles 17 at a time will be detached from the ground. (The tent will remain standing with three poles in place.) One of the brackets 35, with its socket member 42 secured thereto, will then be slipped over the free end of the pole 17 whichhas been detached from the ground and will be slid upwardly along the pole to a point approximately as seen in FIG. 1. At this point the bracket will be tightened up by means of the Wing nut. The same operation will then be performed on the opposite front corner pole 17. Hooks 58 will be engaged with the D-rings 55 at the free corners of flap 30 and the awning frame then assembled.

Each intermediate tubular member 44 is then engaged in its socket 42 and the tubular members 44 are then joined with frame sections 47 on each side, the length of each oblique strut portion on each side of the awning frame being adjusted in length.

Any suitable expedient may be employed for adjustably connecting the tubular members 44 with their mating In any event, these oblique struts may, by obvious expedients, be longitudinally adjusted and secured to provide the desired length. At this stage, it is desired that the adjustment be such that the awning will extend upwardly at an angle of approximately 20 from the horizontal.

The next step of the operation is to attach guy ropes 65 to the corner poles 17 and to the hooks 72, respectively, and then tighten up said ropes to attain the desired stability. It is considered that maximum stability of the tent structure is reached at a point somewhat below that tension in the rope required to produce permanent bending in post 17.

It will be seen that by tying in the guy ropes 65 as tension members to the frame to which flap 34) is attached, these ropes become integral structural elements of the tent supporting structure, adding greatly to the stability of said structure. The guy ropes, in tension, will apply tension to flap 30 and pressure on the diagonal struts and, through said flap and struts, establishing a structural entity with the corner poles, the'latter being firmly anchored to the ground.

It will be readily apparent that ingress to and egress from the tent through opening 28 is greatly facilitated, the space in front of the tents being unobstructed by poles, guy ropes and pegs, as in orthodox awning supports. Furthermore, the operation of erecting an awning in accord ance with my invention is substantially simpler and less arduous than in the standard arrangement Additionally, my invention provides a greatly improved and more orderly appearance to the front of a tent than where an awning is supported by upright poles with guy ropes and pegs, which are likely, without extreme care, to be positioned askew.

It will be obvious that the amount of stability contributed by my invention may be varied to meet different wind conditions according to the extent by which the ropes 65 are tightened.

Various changes coming within the spirit of my invention may suggest themselves to those skilled in the art; hence, I do not wish to be limited to the specific embodiments shown and described or uses mentioned, but intend the same to be merely exemplary, the scope of my inven tion being limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a tent having a fabric body with an opening therein and a cover flap secured to the body over said opening and adapted to serve alternatively as an awning over said opening, and a frame supporting said body and comprising a pair of ground-engaging upright poles on opposite sides of said opening, means for supporting said flap in elevated position as an awning,

comprising (a) an awning frame comprising (b) a generally rectangular portion encompassing the free end portion of said flap and secured thereto to maintain said flap in tension, and

(0) a pair of struts continuous with said rectangular portion and extending downwardly and rearwardly therefrom, each strut being pivotally connected to one of said poles at a fixed point thereof,

(d) means in each strut for adjusting the length thereof for varying the elevation of said awning, and

(e) an adjustable tension member connected to each side of the awning frame at a point remote from the forward end thereof and to the pole on the same side for applying a downward and rearward force on said frame.

2 A combination as in claim 1, wherein each tension member is connected to its pole adjacent the ground.

3. A combination as in claim 2, wherein each strut, pole and tension member form essentially a triangle.

4. A combination as in claim 1, wherein said awning frame is tubular, a bracket detachably mounted on each of said poles and adjustable longitudinally thereof, a socket pivoted to each bracket, and said adjusting means comprises an intermediate tubular member connected to each socket.

5. In combination with a tent having a fabric body with an opening therein and a cover flap for said opening, said flap secured to the body over said opening and adapted to serve alternatively as an awning projecting forwardly from said tent over said opening, and a frame supporting said body and comprising a pair of ground-engaging upright poles on opposite sides of said opening, means for supporting said flap in elevated position as an awning, comprising.

(a) a supporting element for each side of said awning comprising,

(b) a barsecured to each side of the forward portion of the awning, to maintain said awning in tension,

(c) a strut fixed to the inner end of each bar, extending downwardly and rearwardly therefrom and pivotally connected to the adjacent ground engaging upright pole at a fixed point thereof,

((1) means in the strut for adjusting the length thereof in order to vary the elevation of said awning, and

(e) an adjustable tension member extending between each bar adjacent its juncture with said strut and its adjacent pole adjacent the ground for applying a downward and rearward force on said bar.

6. A combination as in claim 5, wherein said strut is tubular and is adjustable longitudinally of said adjacent pole.

7. In a combination as in claim 5,

(a) an attaching member longitudinally adjustable on said adjacent ground engaging upright pole to vary the fixed point of connection of said strut to said pole, and

(b) a socket member pivotally connecting said attaching member, to said strut,

5 6 (c) said strut including means joined to said socket 2,857,924 10/58 Gibbons et a] 1351 member for varying the length of said strut. 2,898,923 8/59 Smiley 1357.1 X 2,934,076 4/60 Fulke 135--7.1 X

References Chad by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 8,472 3/99 Great Britain. 743,827 11/03 a p 820,808 9 59 Great Britain,

785,872 3/05 Gleason. 2,269,350 1/42 Williams 16059 X HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A TENT HAVING A FABRIC BODY WITH AN OPENING THEREIN AND A COVER FLAP SECURED TO THE BODY OVER SAID OPENING AND ADAPTED TO SERVE ALTERNATIVELY AS AN AWNING OVER SAID OPENING, AND A FRAME SUPPORTING SAID BODY AND COMPRISING A PAIR OF GROUND-ENGAGING UPRIGHT POLES ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID OPENING, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID FLAP IN ELEVATED POSITION AS AN AWNING, COMPRISING (A) AN AWNING FRAME COMPRISING (B) A GENERALLY RECTANGULAR PORTION ENCOMPASSING THE FREE END PORTION OF SAID FLAP AND SECURED THERETO TO MAINTAIN SAID FLAP IN TENSION, AND (C) A PAIR OF STRUTS CONTINUOUS WITH SAID RECTANGULAR PORTION AND EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY AND REARWARDLY THEREFROM, EACH STRUT BEING PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO ONE OF SAID POLES AT A FIXED POINT THEREOF, (D) MEANS IN EACH STRUT FOR ADJUSTING THE LENGTH THEREOF FOR VARYING THE ELEVATION OF SAID AWNING, AND (E) AN ADJUSTABLE TENSION MEMBER CONNECTED TO EACH SIDE OF THE AWNING FRAME AT A POINT REMOTE FROM THE FORWARD END THEREOF AND TO THE POLE ON THE SAME SIDE FOR APPLYING A DOWNWARD AND REARWARD FORCE ON SAID FRAME. 